HEW 


^FORMATION. 


BR 

115 

.S6 

N4 

1890 


^  ot  »  IM*.  £^> 

PRINCETON,     N.     J. 

^i&jenfa/  /u 

BR    115    .S6    N4    1890 

The   new  reformation 

1! 

Shelf. 



i 


The 


New  Reformation 


A    LAY   SERMON 


By  Prognostic 


Published  by  The  Author 

Address:  New  York  P.  O. 


Copyright 

by 

J.  VAN  BUREN. 

1890. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


To  Unhappy  and  Oppressed  Humanity 

Everywhere 

is  Dedicated  this  little  Volume, 

and 

Any  Possible  Service 

by 

its  Author. 


In  that  hour,  Jesus  rejoiced  in  spirit  and  said,  1 
thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  thou 
didst  hide  these  things  from  the  wise  and  understanding, 
and  didst  reveal  them  unto  babes." 

"  Many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  shall 
sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven." 

"  For  which  of  you,  desiring  to  build  a  tower,  doth  not 
first  sit  down  and  count  the  cost,  whether  he  have  where- 
with to  complete  it." 

"  So,  therefore,  whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  renounceth 
not  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

"  A  man  had  two  sons ;  and  he  came  to  the  first  and 
said,  '  Son,  go  work  to-day  in  the  vineyard ;'  And  he 
answered  and  said,  "  I  will  not ;'  but  afterward  he  repented 
himself  and  went.  And  he  came  to  the  second,  and  said 
likewise.  And  he  answered  and  said, '  I  go  sir;'  and  went 
not.     Whether  of  the  twain  did  the  will  of  his  father." 

"Therefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  Not 
every  one  that  sayeth  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

"  All  things  therefore  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  even  so  do  ye  also  unto  them." 

"  Except  your  righteousness  abound  more  than  that  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  surely  not  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

"  But  thou  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thine  inner 
chamber,  and  having  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father 
which  is  in  secret,  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret 
shall  reward  thee  openly." 

"  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  send 
forth  laborers  into  his  harvest." 


PREFACE. 

When  Jesus  gave  thanks  that  certain  things 
had  been  concealed  from  the  learned  and  were 
revealed  to  others,  he  evidently,  by  babes,  did  not 
mean  persons  with  imperfect  or  immature  minds, 
but  doubtless,  those  who  were  prone  to  reason  from 
first  principles  as  distinguished  from  those  who 
relied  for  wisdom  on  much  acquiring  of  the  ideas 
of  others. 

The  following  pages  are  not  offered  as  an  orac- 
ular deliverance  on  the  subjects  treated,  but  are 
expected,  rather,  to  stimulate  and  influence  thought 
by  a  suggestion  of  obvious  facts  and  inferences 
such  as  seem  to  have  a  vital  bearing  on  current 
beliefs  and  the  march  of  events. 


<^PW 


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l  he  New  Reformation 


GOD  AND  HUMANITY. 

The  article  with  the  above  caption  from  the  pen 
of  the  popular  author  of  Robert  Elsmere,  together 
with  the  later  discussion  of  Agnostic  Criticism,  by 
Doctor  Wace  and  Professor  Huxley,  have  attracted 
world-wide  attention.  The  reason  for  this  is  ap- 
parent, since  there  are  no  questions  so  nearly  affect- 
ing each  one  of  the  unnumbered  millions  of  the 
earth's  inhabitants  as  these :  What  is  God  ?  What 
will  He  have  me  to  do? 

While  the  distinguished  disputants  have  cer- 
tainly handled  the  subject  with  great  professional 
skill  and  ability,  there  is  an  apparent  disposition  to 


8  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

form  nice  distinctions — a  manifest  attempt  to  nar- 
row the  subject — which  is  not  conducive  to  a  can- 
did consideration  of  the  whole  vital  matter.  If, 
however,  the  learned  professor  and  the  astute  nov- 
elist have  presented  their  whole  case,  it  is  rather  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  a  sect  with  such  a  wide  noto- 
riety should  not  rest  on  a  more  substantial  basis. 

To  know  that  authors  of  such  known  ability 
have  written  lengthy  arguments,  founded  on  their 
convictions  against  any  belief,  is  to  feel  that  some 
such  belief,  of  more  or  less  stability,  is  in  danger, 
and  we  approach  the  perusal  of  their  arguments 
with  some  degree  of  trepidation,  which,  however, 
rapidly  disappears  as  we  read,  and  discover  only 
the  old  doubts  of  the  old  and  new  German  critics, 
many  of  whose  conclusions  are  now  being  scout- 
ed, first  by  their  cotemporaries,  and  later  by  them- 
selves. 

While  there  is  doubtless  much  truth  in  the  as- 
sertion of  Professor  Huxley,  that  the  English  theo- 
logians refuse  to  give  to  the  German   discoveries 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


due  weight,  that  claim  is  easily  balanced  by  the 
German  avidity  for  something  on  which  to  hinge  a 
doubt. 

It  is  the  writer's  opinion  that  a  belief  in  a  Su- 
preme Being  that  is  a  religious  belief,  should  not 
rest  on  the  researches  of  certain  learned  men — 
that  in  this  matter  of  all  others,  each  human 
being  of  accountability  should  think  for  himself,  se- 
lect his  own  premises,  and  arrive  at  his  own  con- 
clusions regardless  of  the  superior  intelligence  or 
research  of  any  one. 

While  it  is  true  that  Professor  Huxley  assures 
us  that  in  order  to  understand  agnoticism,  it  is  quite 
necessary  to  have  a  complete  knowledge  of  history, 
philosophy  and  physical  science,  the  inducement 
offered  is  not  sufficient  compensation  for  the  labor 
involved.  Most  of  us  have  neither  time,  inclina- 
tion, brains  or  erudition  to  delve  among  the  ancient 
Greek  and  Roman  authorities  in  order  to  form  a 
correct  judgment  as  to  the  authenticity  of  certain 
ancient  manuscripts.     Neither  will  it  do  to  follow 


IO  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

the  careful  and  learned  critic,  for  while  he  may  be 
able  to  fully  convince  us  to-day  of  the  truth  of  his 
deductions,  his  successors  of  the  next  century  may 
make  a  discovery  that  will  annihilate  his  establish- 
ed convictions,  to  which  we  have  pinned  our  faith 
or  unbelief. 

A  more  pertinent  inquiry  than  this  is:  Does 
the  simple  story  of  the  gospel  itself,  taken  as  an 
entity  and  alone — apart  from  all  preconceived  no- 
tions, and  explanations  and  commentaries  which  have 
been  so  long  received  and  believed,  if  not  as  a  part, 
at  least  of  equal  authority  with  the  gospel,  and  of- 
ten taught  instead  of  it — do  these  simple  statements 
then  of  doctrine  and  duty,  commend  themselves  to 
my  individual  judgment  as  the  truth;  and  do  not 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  supply  the  only  rational 
theory  of  man's  existence  in  the  universe;  and  the 
only  rule  of  life  that  is  at  all  consistent  with  what 
we  know  of  life  itself— of  humanity  and  that  other 
greater  existence  through  which  humanity  has  and 
maintains  being;  and  does   not  the   history  of  its 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  II 

transmission  to  us  down  the  ages,  indicate  that  it 
is  the  object  of  more  than  human  origin  and  care  ? 

It  is  therefore  with  a  purpose  of  taking  a  prac- 
tical, common-sense — at  the  same  time  brief  and 
comprehensive  view  of  this  whole  important  subject, 
that  the  writer  has  ventured  to  offer  the  following 
thoughts,  in  the  hope  that  some  one  may  be  in 
some  measure  assisted  to  a  correct  conclusion,  who 
is  now  halting  in  the  midst  of  a  diversity  of  creeds 
and  beliefs.  There  will  be  no  attempt  to  make  an 
exhaustive  argument  in  defense  of  Christianity,  or 
even  to  prove  the  facts  stated,  but  rather  to  offer 
suggestions  which  are  self  evident,  or  which  lead 
directly  to  thoughts  or  information  within  reach  of 
all,  which  are  useful  in  weighing  these  matters. 

Within  the  last  five  years  the  thinking  world 
has  been  mightily  stirred  by  a  few  master  spirits  on 
the  subject  of  man's  relation  to  God  and  to  his  fel- 
low man.  These  do  no  not  hesitate  to  predict  a 
mighty  revolution,  some  in  religion,  some  in  social 
institutions  in  the  near  future  of  the  world's  history. 


12  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

Looking  from  different  standpoints,  and  all  agree- 
ing as  to  the  necessity  for  reform,  they  differ  as  to 
the  cause,  the  agent  and  the  result  of  this  upheaval; 
and  there  is  certainly  much  in  each,  that,  after 
thoughtfully  sifting,  we  are  constrained  to  reject. 
They  are  called  fanatics  by  the  wise  men  of  our  day 
— mr formally  and  without  hesitation.  Yet  these 
savants  are  not  a  little  disturbed  by  the  reflection 
that  each  step  in  the  advance  from  darkness  into  light, 
every  important  movement  which  has  led  to  the 
uplifting  of  the  human  race  to  a  higher  plane  of  life, 
has  been  inaugurated  by  some  one  whom  the  wise 
men  of  his  day  placed  in  the  same  category.  Tak- 
ing the  revelations  of  Jesus  as  a  basis  and  adding 
to  these  the  best  indications  of  the  times,  without 
presuming  to  meddle  with  dates,  we  ought  to  profit 
by  a  thoughtful  consideration  of  what  are  recog- 
nized as  facts  in  plain  sight. 

Let  us  see  then  if  there  is  not  some  ground  on 
which  we  can  stand  in  common  with  even  our  ag- 
nostic brethren.     I  think  we  all  aQ-ree  tnat  there  is 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  13 

a  God.  This  is  amply  attested  by  the  horror  de- 
picted on  each  agnostic  page  when  called  infidel, 
as  with  holy  hands  uplifted  they  disclaim  the  title. 
Having  agreed  thus  far — What  is  God  ?  Undoubt- 
edly a  Being  with  attributes  beyond  human  con- 
ception, but  from  what  we  know  His  power  and 
wisdom  and  goodness  transcend  anything  human 
or  earthly  in  such  great  degree  that  we  are  not 
able  to  make  a  comparison  between  the  divine  and 
human  attributes  that  is  at  all  intelligible,  or  that  is 
received  by  the  race  with  any  degree  of  unanimity. 
Now  there  is,  as  stated,  a  vast  expanse  of  differ- 
ence between  the  known  attributes  of  God  and  those 
of  man.  This  expanse  the  human  race  is  now  tra- 
versing, and  has  been  for  ages,  in  the  direction  of 
God.  The  progress  attained  in  that  direction  de- 
pends largely  on  the  assistance  rendered  by  the 
greater  power  to  the  less ;  by  the  divine  to  the  hu- 
man. This  assistance  is  always  available  when  the 
conditions  are  complied  with,  and  in  proportion  as 
these  concessions  are  made  by  the  human,  so  is  the 


14  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


assistance  furnished  by  the  divine.  The  advance- 
ment toward  Godlike  power  and  wisdom,  and  good- 
ness is  in  exact  proportion  to  the  amount  of  inspir- 
ation supplied  by  the  divine  to  the  human,  and  this 
is  regulated  by  the  extent  to  which  the  human  is 
able  to  utilize  certain  elements  of  the  divine  nature; 
and  this  ability  is  commensurate  with  the  belief  of 
the  human  in  the  power  and  willingness  of  the  di- 
vine, to  supply  this  assistance,  as  well  as  complete 
submission  to  the  divine  will,  and  various  degrees 
of  this  power,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness  are  evi- 
denced by  the  different  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
their  progress  God  ward  for  the  past  ages,  except 
where  the  gospel  has  not  been  heard ;  there  the 
progress  has  not  been  realized.  The  advancement 
made,  has  under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  been 
insignificant  compared  to  the  possibilities  under  a 
complete  regime  of  Christianity,  under  which  the 
doctrines  of  Jesus  in  their  purity  would  be  practiced 
by  all  the  human  race  or  any  considerable  contigu- 
ous portion  of  it. 


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JESUS  AND  THE  GOSPEL. 

On  another  point  we  doubtless  agree.  The 
standard  of  human  virtue  and  right  set  forth  in  the 
gospel,  is  the  same  as  that  accepted  by  the  highest 
human  intelligence,  although  no  considerable  num- 
ber of  human  beings  have  ever  attained  to  that 
standard.  That  this  was  first  taught  by  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  to  his  followers,  and  that  it  differs  from 
any  standard  previously  set  up,  is  certainly  signifi- 
cant ;  and  the  fact  that  this  conception  of  duty  has 
led  the  world  higher  and  higher  for  nearly  two 
thousand  years  in  its  strivings  after  light  and  truth, 
and  is  still  far  in  advance,  beckoning  onward  the 
brightest  and  wisest  of  earth,  and  those  immersed 
in  the  blackest  darkness,  holding  out  to  each  a  gos- 
pel of  light  and  peace,  with  pabulum  as  fit  for  the 


x6  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


one  as  for  the  other— should  in  itself  furnish  strong 
proof  of  its  divine  origin.  Its  simple  truths  are  in 
themselves  a  miracle  of  adaptation  to  the  spiritual 
wants  of  the  strictest  Pharisee  and  the  most  degraded 
barbarian  of  the  Christian  era,  and  equally  suited 
to  the  needs  of  the  lowest  tribe  of  Terra  del  Fue- 
gans  and  the  most  enlightened  nations  of  the  pres- 
ent day;  and  I  submit  that  if  we  stand  upon  the 
Gospel,  pure  and  simple,  its  declarations,  its  injunc- 
tions and  its  promises,  and  look  toward  the  best 
that  earth  and  humanity  have  to  offer,  the  same 
gulf  yawns  at  our  feet  that  divides  the  known  attri- 
butes of  God  from  those  of  man. 

The  exact  relation  existing  between  God 
the  Father,  and  Christ  the  Son,  must  ever 
remain  somewhat  a  mystery  to  our  finite  minds. 
The  miraculous  conception  of  Mary,  the  sub- 
sequent advent  into  the  world  of  a  being  heralded 
as  the  promised  Messiah  and  Son  of  God — are  all 
events,  to  comprehend  which,  the  human  mind  is 
inadequate.     How  much  of  Jesus  was  divine,  how 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  17 

much  human,  and  in  what  consists  the  exact  differ- 
ence between  the  divine  and  human  nature,  must 
to  humanity  ever  remain  matters  of  profitless  con- 
jecture; nor  is  it  essential  that  we  be  permitted  to 
look  into  the  divine  plan  beyond  that  portion  in 
which  we  are  to  take  part;  for  our  knowledge  of 
the  divine  attributes,  our  daily  experience  with  his 
tender  solicitude  for  our  lightest  sorrow,  the  blessed 
assurance  that  "not  a  sparrow  falleth  "  without  it 
— all  this  is  such  that  we  may  well  rest  without  a 
solution  of  these  mysteries. 

But  that  portion  of  the  divine  plan  in  which  we 
are  to  participate  is  designedly  not  left  to  conjec- 
ture. The  gospel  trumpet  produces  no  uncertain 
sound  as  to  the  effect  this  exhibition  of  the  infinite 
mercy  and  condescension  of  the  Creator  is  to  have 
on  the  future  of  as  many  of  the  human  race,  as  can 
be  persuaded  to  sit  down  to  the  feast  of  fat  things, 
provided  for  their  edification.  It  is  equally  clear 
with  regard  to  man's  duty  toward  God  and  toward 
his  fellowman. 


1 8  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


In  the  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  is  laid  down 
enough  practical  instruction  for  anyone  who  will 
lay  hold  of  it  and  practice  it  with  such  faith  as  the 
Teacher  possessed,  and  strove  with  but  indifferent 
success  to  inspire  in  his  disciples  during  his  life,  to 
raise  him  at  once  to  the  plane  of  life  which  it  was 
designed  by  the  Creator  that  man  should  occupy. 
The  influence  of  one  such  life  in  convincing  the 
world  of  truth,  is  evidenced  by  the  very  consider- 
able number  of  the  inhabitants  of  earth  who  have 
enrolled  themselves  beneath  the  banner  of  the 
cross,  mainly  because  His  life  was  a  perfect  one, 
and  a  faithful  exposition  of  the  truth  He  taught. 

There  is  a  disposition  among  men  to  under- es- 
timate the  power  and  willingness  of  the  Creator  to 
confer  upon  man  certain  divine  attributes.  There 
is  doubtless,  also  a  misapprehension  as  to  the  differ- 
ence between  the  known  attributes  of  God,  and 
those  of  man.  God  is  not  omnipotent  in  the  sense 
that  He  can  do  a  wrong  or  change  an  edict  of  His 
eternal  law,  or  take  away  from  man  his  birth- right 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  19 

—that  is  the  free  spirit  with  which  He  endowed 
him  at  his  creation ;  neither  is  He  omniscient  in  the 
sense  that  he  knows  now  what  the  free  spirit  of 
man  will  elect  to  do  in  a  certain  contingency  in  the 
future.  The  divine  power  and  influence  is  exercis- 
ed entirely  by  His  Spirit  on  the  spirit  of  man.  The 
soul  of  man  is  free  to  reject  the  influence  of  this 
Spirit.  The  spirit  of  man  is  the  indestructable  part 
of  man,  in  fact,  is  the  man;  and  this  it  is  that  ac- 
cepts God  and  becomes  subservient  to  His  will. 
This  communion  of  spirit  with  spirit— this  uplifting 
of  the  soul,  made  possible  by  the  infinite  conde- 
scension of  the  Creator,  is  the  one  link  that  binds 
man  to  God. 

That  man  is  the  only  one  of  God's  physical 
creations  which  He  endowed  with  a  soul,  and  that 
He  created  him  in  His  own  image,  is  proof  enough 
that  there  is  something  Godlike  in  his  composition; 
and  the  difference  between  the  attributes  of  the 
Redeemer  of  Mankind  as  he  trod  the  earth,  and 
those   of  a  man  created  in  God's  own  image,  actu- 


20  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

ated  by  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  purified  and 
filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a  sublime  faith  in 
God; — this  difference,  though  hard  to  estimate,  is 
not  to  be  compared  to  the  gulf  that  separates  an 
unretrenerate  man  from  God. 


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CHRISTIANITY  AND  ITS  EXPOSITORS. 

The  Christian  Church  has  its  worst  enemies, 
not  in  the  infidel  and  the  agnostic,  but  they  are  those 
of  its  own  household.  This  is  true,  because  a  large 
portion — the  larger  portion  it  is  feared — do  not  be- 
lieve what  they  profess ;  of  course  they  believe  that 
Christ  is  divine ;  they  do  this  mechanically,  as  a 
matter  that  requires  no  thought,  no  deliberation, 
no  special  or  peculiar  duties,  or  rule  of  life ;  but 
their  manner  of  expressing  this  belief— not  by  their 
words,  but  by  their  actions,  which  speak  loudest — 
is  so  entirely  similar  to  that  in  which  the  infidel 
expresses  his  unbelief,  that  he  who  is  studying  the 
subject  for  facts  to  lead  him  to  a  decision,  is  often 
puzzled  to  discover  any  real  difference;  and  it  is 


22  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

not  unusual  when  there  is  any  difference,  to  find 
that  it  is  in  favor  of  the  unbeliever ;  in  other  words 
the  disciple's  professed  belief  in  the  statements  of 
Jesus,  is  denied  by  his  life. 

If  the  church — and  I  mean  the  whole  church, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  priest  and  layman — be- 
lieved what  the  Gospel  teaches  in  the  simplest  lan- 
guage, and  taught  it  by  precept  and  example,  the 
problem  of  reaching  the  masses,  so  harrassing  to 
the  earnest  worker  of  to-day,  would  solve  itself. 

The  learned  ministers  of  all  ages,  from  Paul  -to 
the  popes  and  arch-bishops,  and  bishops  and  doc- 
tors of  the  present  age,  have  exhausted  their  eru- 
dition in  discovering  and  solving  real  or  fancied 
problems  from  the  sermons  of  Jesus,  and  those  of 
their  learned  brethren  who  preceded  them.  The 
task  they  have  set  before  themselves  is  not  to  pre- 
sent the  Gospel  teachings  in  their  simple,  direct  and 
obvious  meaning,  as  that  would  not  involve  the 
exhibition  of  much  learning;  but  to  explain  the  in- 
terpretations of  others  in  a  manner  which  satisfies 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  23 

their  own  sect,  while  it  fails  to  satisfy  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  believers. 

The  further  they  are  able  to  peer  into  the  dark- 
ness of  the  past  ages,  the  more  authority  they  give 
to  the  interpretations  they  find  there,  so  that  those 
of  Paul  are  esteemed  par  excellence,  of  equal  au- 
thority with  the  revelations  of  Jesus  himself,  and 
the  majority  of  sermons  delivered  to-day  are  found- 
ed on  what  Paul  (whose  teachings  are  far  less 
simple  than  those  of  Jesus),  believed  Jesus  meant 
to  teach.  This  is  not  the  fault  of  Paul  himself,  but 
only  of  his  worshippers.  He  bitterly  bewails,  as 
we  all  must,  the  utter  inability  of  the  human  soul 
and  body — even  with  such  divine  help  as  he  had — 
to  enjoy  perfect  immunity  from  damaging-  tempta- 
tions to  do  evil. 

That  Paul  was  a  man  of  giant  intellect  and  su- 
blime faith  and  devotion  to  the  cause,  and  that  his 
thoughts  were  crystallized  by  him  into  written 
language,  while  those  of  Jesus  reach  us  through  a 
variable  medium: — of  each  of  these  facts  there  can 


24  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

be  no  question;  but  Paul  was  a  man,  and  his 
thoughts  clearly  bear  the  imprint  of  humanity, 
while  those  of  Jesus  as  clearly  bear  the  impress  of 
Deity.  Paul  should  therefore  be  permitted  to  take 
his  place  as  a  man,  though  his  insistence  on  this 
privilege  is  only  taken  as  additional  proof  of  his 
infallibility.  The  result  of  this  course  on  the  part 
of  the  exponents  of  the  Christian  religion  has  been: 
ist — Much  time  has  been  spent  in  trying  to  teach 
Paul,  which  would  have  been  more  effectually  em- 
ployed in  preaching  the  simple  Gospel;  and  2nd — 
They  have  succeeded  in  utterly  befogging  in  the 
minds  of  the  average  hearer  and  reader,  what  was 
and  is  a  very  simple  matter. 

There  is  a  great  number  of  notable  and  honor- 
able exceptions  to  this  rule,  to  whose  clear  under- 
standing of,  and  devotion  to,  the  simple  truth  I 
hasten  to  do  full  justice. 

There  is  implanted  in  human  nature,  a  desire 
— an  irresistible  desire — to  worship  something.  The 
object  for  which  the  desire  is  felt  is  not  necessarily 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  25 


a  Supreme  Being ;  it  may  be  an  idol,  and  the  idol 
may  be  another  human  being  ;  it  may  be,  and  more 
frequently  is,  self  than  any  other  object.  Now  the 
object  worshipped  is  that  which  controls  the  affec- 
tions, the  thoughts,  the  life  of  the  worshipper.  If 
it  be  the  Creator,  then  he  will  be  first  in  the  affec- 
tions, the  thoughts,  the  life ;  not  to  the  exclusion  of 
or  detraction  from  any  worthy  object,  but  to  the 
entire  exclusion  of  anything  incompatible  with  the 
divine  character.  These  are  axioms  taught  by  the 
great  Teacher  as  well  as  by  our  daily  experience 
and  observation. 

Now  it  is  only  rational  that  if  we  have  believed 
that  God  is  our  Creator  and  that  Christ  is  our  Re- 
deemer, and  that  therefore  we  are  their  creatures,  we 
should  submit  ourselves  to  the  divine  will  as  far  as 
revealed  to  us;  further,  we  should  love  and  worship 
these  divine  beings  above  all  earthly,  and  render 
to  them  our  highest  service,  and  obey  the  injunc- 
tions of  the  Son,  as  set  forth  in  the  plainest  of 
burning  words  in  the  Gospel.     These  are  not  elab- 


26  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

orate  creeds  but  plain  directions,  applicable  to  the 
every  day  life  of  any  one.  They  are  so  clear,  and 
contain  withal  such  complete  knowledge  of  our 
weak  and  fallen  nature ;  such  tender  solicitude  for 
our  helpless  humanity;  and  provide  so  fully  for 
every  contingency  in  life,  and  every  want,  that  he 
who  believes  it  all  cannot  avoid  a  deep  feeling  of 
wonder  and  gratitude. 

Let  us  be  as  clear  as  we  are  able  in  our  estimate 
of  the  simple  Gospel.  This  revelation  of  a  new 
rule  of  life  for  man,  founded  on  the  eternal  law,  was 
made  by  the  Savior  in  the  only  tongue  intelligible 
to  his  hearers  in  such  phrase  or  idiom  as  was  most 
easily  understood  by  them. 

It  was  the  custom  of  that  age  and  country  to 
state  truth  in  an  indirect  manner,while  it  is  the  crown- 
ing and  growing  virtue  of  our  language  and  time,  to 
state  facts  in  clear  and  direct  phrase.  Yet  it  has 
come  now  to  be  understood  that  language  is  an 
imperfect  medium  for  conveying  thought;  and  in 
this   is   the  wisdom  of  Jesus  displayed,  for  the  im- 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  27 


pressions  made  by  his  life  and  teachings  give  to  us 
a  better  conception  of  his  meaning,  than  his  wri- 
tings could  have  given.  These  revelations  were 
made  to  a  people  to  whose  care  the  true  religious 
faith  had  been  committed  ages  before,  but  in  whose 
keeping  it  had  degenerated  into  a  system  composed 
largely  of  mere  forms  and  superstitions,  without  at 
all  retaining  the  true  spirit  of  the  original  faith. 

In  this  system  were  included  many  beliefs  in 
demons  and  spirits  which  we  find  difficult  to  har- 
monize with  an  intelligent  view  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  doctrines  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  the  impres- 
sions in  which  the  evangelists  were  reared,  clung 
to  them  through  their  earnest  effort  to  give  a  faith- 
ful account  of  the  doings  of  Jesus ;  and  in  spite  of 
these  efforts  may  have  colored  some  of  their  nar- 
ratives. We  do  not  say  that  such  was  the  case, 
but  it  may  have  been ;  and  we  do  not  believe  these 
accounts  were  written  by  men  who  could  not  make 
a  mistake,  but  that  they  were  inapt  students  of  the 
Gospel  doctrine  is  easily  shown  by  their  own  state- 


28  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

ments.  Yet  they  were  doubtless  the  best  the  world 
afforded,  and  they  only  furnish  another  instance  of 
the  poor  material  divinity  has  always  been  obliged 
to  employ  in  its  work  when  using  humanity. 

The  saying  of  Jesus,  that  of  all  others  seems 
to  embody  the  sentiment  of  his  life,  is  this:  "  I  came 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,"  not  to 
be  served,  but  to  serve.  His  whole  life  was  spent 
in  personifying  this  sentiment.  He  sought  out  the 
poor,  the  sick,  the  oppressed,  and  dwelt  among 
them,  ministering  to  their  wants  and  healing  their 
infirmities,  and  rebuking  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
"  who  sat  in  Moses'  seat  and  laid  upon  men's  shoul- 
ders, burdens  grievous  to  be  borne,  but  they 
themselves  would  not  move  them  with  a  finger," 
and  last  but  not  least,  he  preached  the  Gospel 
to  them,  and  they  listened  and  believed — for 
had  he  not  won  his  way  to  their  hearts  before 
preaching  ? 

"  I  came  to  minister,"  this  is  the  key-note  to 
the  doctrine  of  Christianity.     Drummond  well  says 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  29 

it  is  love,  though  it  is  not  theoretical,   but  practical 
love — ministry — help. 

The  mission  of  Christ  was  and  is  to  lift  human- 
ity, and  humanity  itself  is  the  divinely  appointed 
instrument  in  the  work  of  to-day.  Then  a  Chris- 
tian must  be  willing  and  eager  to  minister  to  the 
world.  The  world  means  anyone,  everyone.  To 
minister  is  not  to  give,  though  it  may  include  this; 
but  it  is  to  use  the  means  at  hand  to  help — not  only 
the  poor,  but  all  with  whom  we  come  in  contact. 
There  is  only  one  way  to  be  a  Christian :  that  is  to 
follow  Christ;  be  like  Christ;  get  away  from  self. 
"Thou  shalt  have  no  other  Gods." 

Reader,  if  you  are  a  Christian  do  something  for 
someone  who  needs  help  and  thus  exemplify  the  spirit 
that  was  in  Christ;  then  having  sacrificed  something 
for  your  fellow  being  you  have  a  right  to  call  yourself 
by  a  name  that  indicates  you  are  His  disciple;  per- 
haps then  he  will  listen  to  your  Gospel  story  which 
having  been  illustrated  by  you,  he  can  better  un- 
derstand and  easier  believe, 


30  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

If  you  are  not  a  Christian,  do  not  judge  Chris- 
tianity by  the  recreant  professor,  who  plainly  does 
not  believe  all  the  teachings  of  the  Savior ;  but  ev- 
idently thinks  he  must  have  been  mistaken  in  some 
of  the  more  important  teachings.  The  popular 
conception  of  a  Christian  life  is  that  the  model 
Christian  leads  two  lives;  one  for  the  church  edifice, 
where  he  is  to  be  found  with  varying  regularity, 
devout  behavior,  and  good  will  and  charity  for  all 
mankind;  and  where  he  practices  what  religion  and 
faith  he  deems  essential,  and  the  other  for  work 
and  pleasure  where  he  is  not  easily  to  be  distin- 
guished from  the  respectable  unbeliever.  His 
pursuit  of  the  almighty  dollar  is  as  unflagging,  and 
his  desertions  of  the  narrow  path  of  rectitude  to  soil 
his  hands  in  the  ditches  and  morasses  which  envi- 
ron it  when  they  lie  between  him  and  his  idol,  are 
as  marked  and  frequent  as  those  of  men  of  baser 
metal.  Yet  does  he  not  pay  tithes  of  all  he  has, 
and  make  long  prayers  standing  in  the  synagogues, 
thanking  God  that  he  is  not  as  other  men  are,  and 


THE    NEW   REFORMATION.  31 

striving  to  be  heard  for  his  much  speaking  ?  Phy- 
lacteries either  broad  or  narrow,  are  now  out  of 
style;  likewise,  praying  on  the  street  corners;  but  the 
chief  seats  are  still  in  request. 

Of  course  no  one  ought  to  pretend  that  this  is 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  for  it  evidently  belongs  to  a 
much  older  system  of  worship  which  he  did  not 
approve. 

In  direct  contrast  with  this  is  what  seems  to  be 
the  crying  need  of  this  time,  namely,  a  religion  that 
like  an  undergarment  fits  us  closely,  and  is  worn  at 
all  times,  keeping  astir  within  us  that  warmth  and 
life  so  conducive  to  comfort  and  healthful  existence 
by  protecting  us  from  sudden  and  damaging  expo- 
sures ;  not  like  a  cloak  of  fine  cloth,  to  be  worn 
only  on  gala  days  when  we  wish  to  appear  well  be- 
fore men.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  only  occa- 
sions when  Jesus  was  especially  bitter  in  his  denun- 
ciation, was  when  considering  an  abundance  of 
leaves  giving  great  promise  of  fruit  while  the  fruit 
was  entirely  lacking.  And  now,  dear  nonprofessor,  I 


32  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

would  suggest  that  after  having  decided  that  the 
Gospel  is  the  way  of  life,  join  in  with  a  hearty  pur- 
pose to  help  raise  the  standard.  Unless  this  be 
your  purpose,  remain  outside ;  for  you  will  only  be 
a  dead  weight. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  it  is  numbers  and 
wealth  the  church  needs.  It  is  first  an  increase  of 
that  savour  with  which  the  world  is  to  be  salted — 
of  the  leaven  which  is  to  leaven  the  whole  lump. 

Another  mistake  is  to  assume  that  the  life  of  a 
Christian  is  one  of  sorrow  and  tribulation.  The 
declaration  of  Jesus,  that  his  yoke  is  easy,  and  his 
burden  light,  is  literally  true  in  practice.  It  is  only 
the  neck  that  wears  the  yoke  half  on,  that  becomes 
galled,  and  the  shoulders,  that  strive  to  shirk  part 
of  the  burden  that  are  bruised  ;  and  the  heart  that 
only  half  believes  that  becomes  sore  under  the  re- 
sultant friction  of  a  contact  of  spiritual  and  tempo- 
ral things.  The  writer  is  especially  fitted  to  affirm 
this,  having,  he  believes,  worn  the  yoke  in  both 
ways ;  and  he  feels  confident  that  the  experience  of 


THE   NEW   REFORMATION.  33 

all  others,  if  candidly  stated,  would  corroborate  him 
in  this  regard. 

There  is  often  seen  in  the  life  of  one  who  strives 
earnestly  to  be  a  follower  of  Christ,  a  great  discre- 
pancy in  the  degree  of  faithfulness  with  which  he 
pursues  his  calling  at  different  times,  under  appar- 
ently similar  circumstances.  This  is  accounted  for 
by  his  failure  to  appreciate  that  the  grace  of  God 
is  given  to  us  daily  for  our  daily  use,  and  only  on 
our  fervent  desire ;  it  is  not  given  to  us  at  long  in- 
tervals in  sufficient  supply  to  keep  us  from  tempta- 
tion for  a  long  period  of  time.  Human  weakness 
is  such  that  we  require  new  and  daily  supplies  of 
the  divine  unction  to  keep  us  safe  from  the  tempta- 
tions to  err  in  thought,  word  and  deed,  which  con- 
tinually environ  us.  If  we  ask  in  good  faith,  the 
unfailing  supply  is  at  our  command  ;  but  unless  we 
are  entirely  sensible  of  our  weakness,  as  well  as  of 
the  divine  power  and  willingness  to  help,  we  are  apt 
to  neglect  to  place  ourselves  daily  in  His  care.  To 
the  true  disciples  of  Jesus  of  which  there  are  many 


34  THE   NEW   REFORMATION. 

times  seven  thousand  who  have  neither  bowed  the 
knee  to  Baal,  nor  aspired  to  the  righteousness  of 
scribes,  but  who  have  drunk  deep  at  the  fountain 
of  Gospel  Truth,  and  move  in  the  inspiration  re- 
ceived from  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  gems 
of  revelation  and  injunction  therein  contained — to 
these  we  need  only  say: — Be  not  discouraged  when 
you  find  it  easier  to  obey  all  the  injunctions  of  Jesus 
than  that  one  of  Paul's: — "  Let  not  then  your  good 
be  evil  spoken  of,"  for  the  lips  of  the  envious  man, 
be  he  known  as  saint  or  sinner,  will  not  be  sealed, 
strive  ye  never  so  unselfishly,  or  succeed  ye  never 
so  completely  in  maintaining  a  clear  conscience 
before  God  and  man. 


m 


TOLSTOI  AND  BELLAMY. 

Of  the  writers  who  have  attracted  general  at- 
tention, Count  Tolstoi  and  Edward  Bellamy  each 
seem  rather  than  the  others  named  to  take  a  broad- 
er view  of  the  material  and  spiritual  world ;  and  at 
the  same  time  to  lay  hold  of  it  without  gloves,  and 
to  handle  it  with  the  naked  hand  of  genius  in  an 
effort  to  mould  it  back  into  a  comely  form,  where 
it  has  so  greatly  gone  awry.  Whatever  may  be 
their  failure  as  they  descend  to  the  intricate  and 
practical  working  out  of  the  details,  each  seems  to 
have  touched  a  chord  attuned  to  the  spirit  of  the 
future.  The  Count  goes  back  to  the  Greek,  and 
by  a  careful,  exhaustive  analysis  of  some  of  the 
p"hrases  in  the  injunctions  contained  in  the  Sermon 


36  THE   NEW   REFORMATION. 

on  the  Mount,  construes  them  with  quite  another 
meaning  from  that  accepted  by  the  church ;  and 
though  some  of  his  conclusions  appear  to  be  arbitra- 
ry, yet  as  a  whole  his  exposition  of  the  Spirit  of 
Christ's  teachings  is  quite  rational,  and  a  fair  con- 
struction of  the  language  used.  He  declares  that  the 
teachings  and  practice  of  the  Christian  church  are 
strangely  at  variance  with  the  doctrine  of  Jesus.  He 
believes  he  has  made  out  a  strong  case  as  he  con- 
strues:— "  Resist  not  evil,"  and  "  Judge  not,"  to  for- 
bid all  violence  in  punishment  of  misdoing,  even  if  by 
legal  authority ;  and  that  all  war  is  by  this  prohib- 
ited. Swear  not  at  all,  is  a  condemnation  of  any 
oath  and  the  divorced  woman,  he  who  marries  her, 
and  he  who  "  looketh  upon  a  woman  to  lust  after 
her,"  are  alike  adulterous.  "Love  your  enemies" 
becomes:  Love  strangers  as  well  as  your  country- 
men, for  all  are  brothers.  He  believes  that  no- 
thing but  the  fulfilment  of  this  doctrine  of  Jesus 
will  give  true  happiness  to  men;  that  it  is  "possible, 
easy  and  pleasant,"  and  that  it  is  his  duty  to  practice 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  37 

it  though  all  others  refuse.  He  does  not  believe  in 
individual  existence  after  death,  and  goes  into  other 
abstract  deductions  where  there  is  no  practical  profit 
in  following  him,  and  while  there  is  much  that  is 
interesting  and  instructive  in  his  writings,  many  of 
his  deductions  seem  unwarranted,  his  estimates  of 
abuses  intemperate  and  some  of  his  teachings  im- 
practical. He  condemns  unsparingly  the  social 
system  of  ours  and  past  centuries  ;  and  depicts 
with  graphic  pen  the  wretchedness  of  the  poor,  es- 
pecially in  large  cities,  consequent  on  their  penury, 
as  well  as  the  miseries  of  the  rich  caused  by  their 
excesses.  He  denies  the  doctrine  of  total  deprav- 
ity, and  affirms  the  universal  brotherhood  and 
equality  of  man ;  and  looks  forward  to  a  golden 
age  when  man  shall  dwell  with  his  brother  in  love, 
and  sin  and  suffering  be  practically  extinct.  These 
are  the  three  points  of  agreement  between  him  and 
Bellamy. 

The  most  marked  difference  is  that  while  the 
Count  hinges   his   entire   discourses   on   religion. 


3§  THE   NEW   REFORMATION. 

Bellamy  ignores  it  entirely  as  an  agent  of  reform  ; 
though  unlike  Bellamy,  Tolstoi  suggests  no  con- 
certed, systematic,  comprehensive  and  practical 
remedy  for  the  evils  he  deplores,  except  that  each 
man  practice  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  for  himself,  and 
thus  influence  his  neighbor.  The  most  notable 
feature  of  his  life  is  that  he  reduces  to  practice  what 
he  teaches,  and  though  a  wealthy  Russian  noble- 
man of  high  rank,  he  lives  and  labors  with  the 
peasants  on  his  large  estate,  and  esteems  himself 
one  of  them,  while  he  devotes  his  mental  powers  to 
enlightening  the  world — whose  ear  he  has — as  to 
his  peculiar  views  and  deductions  and  beliefs,  and 
to  making  a  new  translation  of  the  Gospel  with 
copious  notes. 

His  latest  book  is  enjoying  a  phenomenal  run 
among  a  large  class  of  readers — to  promote  which, 
Russia's  Czar  and  our  Postmaster  General  have 
united  with  the  publishers ;  these  have  been  antag- 
onized by  Judge  Thayer,  who  decided  that  there 
was  nothing  immoral  in  the  book.      Like  his  other 


THE    NEW   REFORMATION.  39 

books,  it  contains  much  truth,  and  clothes  in  vigor- 
ous language  his  estimate  of  affairs  about  which  we 
do  not  write,  but  talk  with  bated  breath.  The 
estimate  is  unusually  intemperate  even  for  him,  and 
his  deductions  carry  him  to  still  greater  lengths ; 
and  as  these  are  held  up  and  criticised  by  those 
who  are  jealous  of  the  attention  the  author  has 
received,  they  are  now  in  full  cry  after  him  so  that 
they  are  able  with  large  numbers  of  its  readers  to 
have  it  judged  by  these  specimen  bricks — themselves 
so  colored  and  misshapen  as  to  be  scarcely  recog- 
nizable. 

Ingersoll's  desire  for  notoriety  is  never  so  com- 
pletely gratified  as  when,  in  the  strong  halo  of  light 
with  which  Christianity  floods  every  subject  pertain- 
ing to  it,  he  is  able  to  obtrude  himself  between  the 
public  and  a  point  on  which  all  eyes  are  focussed. 
He  does  not  scruple  to  use  the  most  brazen  misinter- 
pretation of  an  author's  meaning,  for  he  knows  that 
most  of  his  readers  will  not  exert  themselves  to 
arrive  at  the  true  sense  of  the  work  he  criticises. 


40  THE   NEW   REFORMATION. 

It  cannot  be  expected  that  a  man  who  is  all  of 
the  earth,  earthy,  whose  idea  of  power  and  good- 
ness is  exemplified  in  man — whose  idea  of  omni- 
science is  his  own  intellectual  power — who  owns  no 
debt  of  allegiance  to  a  higher  power  than  man ; 
who  believes  in  nothing  that  defies  the  crucible  of 
his  reason  to  analyze;  who  believes  that  the  mater- 
ial universe  had  no  Creator  or  beginning,  and  is  the 
only  eternal  existence  ;  who  delights  in  nothing  so 
much  as  the  reiteration  that  he  knows  nothing,  and 
is  easily  able  to  prove  it ;  how  can  such  a  man 
even  understand  a  rational  conception  of  spiritual 
affairs,  to  say  nothing  of  his  presuming  to  make 
an  intelligent  estimate  for  the  guidance  of  his  honest 
and  conscientious  fellows. 

Our  author  certainly  gives  a  very  broad  defini- 
tion of  lust,  by  means  of  which  he  accuses  nearly 
all  mankind  of  it,  and  stops  only  after  he  has  con- 
demned the  institution  of  marriage  and  the  repro- 
duction of  the  race.  The  boldness  with  which  he 
assumes  this  hitherto  untenanted  (and  surely  still 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  4 1 


untenable)  position  is  entitled  to  our  admiration, 
though  it  calls  down  upon  his  devoted  head  unlim- 
ited censure  and  ridicule,  and  possibly  discredits 
some  very  fine  sentiments  which  the  book  contains; 
yet  this  very  outcry  has  won  for  it  so  many  read- 
ers that  would  not  otherwise  have  been  attracted 
by  it,  that  its  influence  for  good  must  be  consid- 
erable. 

And  now  what  shall  we  say  of  Bellamy's  crea- 
tion. It  will  not  do  to  call  it  a  wild  dream,  for  it 
goes  further  than  the  wildest  dreamer  ever  dared, 
and  it  contains  too  much  method  for  a  dream.  As 
a  literary  production  it  is  unique  and  stands  alone ; 
as  a  formula  for  a  system  of  statecraft  it  is  a  marvel 
and  essays  the  solution  of  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems of  life ;  and  yet  how  simple — how  compre- 
hensive— how  like  the  Gospel,  if  you  please,  is  his 
plan ;  his  regard  for  the  man  erect  before  God  as 
compared  to  soulless  things — dross.  He  breaks 
the  shackles  that  bind  the  soul  of  man  to  their  ser- 
vitude and  consigns  this  aggregation  of  material 


42  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

things  to  its  rightful  place  as  the  servant  of  human- 
ity. This  emancipation  of  man  from  the  service 
of  mammon,  leaves  him  free  to  serve  God ;  both 
he  cannot  serve.  How  much  freer  then  the  un- 
shackled soul  of  man  to  render  the  service  and 
worship  and  praise  due  to  the  Creator  !  How  like 
the  thoughts  of  divinity  these !  How  glorious  to 
be  permitted  to  think  them  after  Him,  and  to  be 
His  messenger  to  a  world  in  a  state  of  slavery  nev- 
er contemplated  by  its  Creator !  The  earth  yields 
her  increase  and  treasure  from  her  surface,  and 
from  her  innermost  parts;  and  as  when  the  morning 
stars  first  sang  together  there  is  enough  for  all  and 
to  spare;  yet  he  that  is  able  takes  more  than  enough, 
not  for  use — for  he  cannot  consume  it — leaving 
scores  of  his  brethren,  with  equal  rights  before  the 
eternal  law,  in  want  of  what  he  cannot  use. 

This  is  a  faithful  picture  of  our  social  structure, 
and  man  will  become  familiar  with  the  picture,  (or 
he  will  study  it  as  he  ought  to  and  become  convinc- 
ed that,  as  in  religion,  preconceived  notions  must 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  43 

be  discarded,  if  further  progress  is  to  be  made  in 
the  pursuit  of  truth  and  justice. 

The  author  of  "  Looking  Backward  "  has  not 
ventured  to  meddle  with  religious  doctrine,  except 
to  assert  that  man  is  not  essentially  vile  in  his  nature, 
but  retains  within  him  a  germ  of  good  which  only 
the  unfavorable  conditions  of  his  social  environ- 
ment prevents  from  kindling  into  a  glow  of  good 
aspiration  and  achievment. 

While  he  has  carefully  avoided  affiliation  with 
any  religious  sect  or  creed,  and  has  devoted  him- 
self entirely  to  the  social  problem,  he  has  written 
more  in  accordance  with  the  true  doctrine  of  Jesus 
than  many  who  have  written  volumes  of  theology ; 
for  nothing  will  so  thoroughly  relieve  the  minds  of 
One-half  the  human  race  as  the  absence  of  that 
harrowing  thought  for  the  morrow,  which  with  them 
is  a  necessity  and  perforce  is  the  one  object  of  life. 


^fefel^ifefel^ifefe^i^/i^ 


NEW  REFORMATION. 

And  now,  after  these  suggestions  of  belief,  let 
us  aspire  to  the  seat  of  Apollo  erstwhile  filled  by 
Merriman,  later  by  Harrison,  and  then  for  a  short 
prognostication  ere  slipping  off  by  the  arch  agnos- 
tic himself.  The  faithful  historian  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical events  of  the  Nineteenth  Century — I  mean  he 
who  shall  write  for  the  edification  of  the  readers  of 
the  Millenial  Age,  will  not  declare  that  in  those 
days — that  is  about  the  latest  decade, — there  arose 
certain  prophets  with  but  little  belief  of  any  kind 
that  could  be  discerned  by  the  searcher  after  truth, 
but  with  a  vast  amount  of  unbelief  of  every  kind  ; 
that  these,  with  certain  eminent  German  critics  who 
had  spent  their  best  efforts  in  searching  after  ma- 
terial  to  prove  that  the  Gospel  was  a  cunningly 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  45 


devised  fiction — finally  succeeded  in  overturning  the 
belief  of  the  sect  called  Christians,  although  this 
belief  had  been  accepted  by  all  the  civilized  and 
enlightened  nations  of  the  earth,  and  had  even 
penetrated  far  into  heathen  countries,  for  these 
Christians  were  a  sect  whose  founder  taught  them 
to  go  forth  into  all  the  world  and  spread  their 
belief. 

Neither  will  it  set  forth  that  these  prophets 
and  critics  established  upon  the  ruins  of  this  belief, 
an  unbelief  that  was  more  attractive  than  any 
belief  had  ever  been,  and  that  man  became  so  wise, 
so  self  reliant,  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  his  own 
wisdom  and  power  that  he  was  able  to  cast  aside 
all  belief  in  certain  divine  beings  and  believe  solely 
in  himself. 

He  will  rather  state  that  in  those  latter  days  the 
prediction  of  Jesus — then  nearly  two  thousand 
years  old — were  strikingly  fulfilled  in  that  prophets 
arose  in  all  the  continents  of  the  world  ;  that  these 
held  but  one  belief  in  common,  and  that  was  :  each 


46  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


was  persuaded  that  his  peculiar  doctrine  or  belief 
would  inaugurate  a  reformation  which  would  result 
in  the  final  overthrow  of  Christianity,  that  only  in 
Africa  was  there  great  disturbance  and  bloodshed 
caused  by  the  effort  of  that  aspirant  to  prophetical 
honors  to  acquire  for  himself  a  temporal  kingdom, 
and  force  the  people  to  accept  his  creed;  that  those 
issuing  their  prophecies  from  the  continent  of 
Europe  and  the  isles  of  the  sea  called  themselves 
Agnostics  (a  name  and  sect  long  since  forgotten), 
and  were  remarkable  only  for  their  effort  to  deprive 
Christianity  of  its  belief  in  God  and  Christ  while 
they  offered  no  substitute  to  fill  the  void  they  thus 
strove  to  create.  In  their  public  discussion  of  the 
subject  they  were  chiefly  exercised  to  prove  there 
was  no  devil;  seeming  to  treat  the  subject  of  God 
with  indifference.  As  these  Agnostics  were  prone  to 
treat  the  Creator  and  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  uni- 
verse thus  it  seems  entirely  natural  that  they  should 
be  solicitous  as  to  the  existence  of  the  arch  fiend, 
and  seek  to  inform   themselves  in  this  regard,  for 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  47 

although  blatantly  confident  that  there  existed   no 
such  being,  the  great  interest  they  evinced  seems 
to  betray  a  lurking  fear  after  all  as  to  his  non- 
existence; and  if  this  fear  should  prove  well  ground- 
ed they  have  no  doubt,that  is  they  were  not  agnostic 
as  to  whose  hands  they  should  finally  fall  into.     As 
for  the  true  disciples   of  Jesus,   they   were   obliged 
to  confess  to  a  lack  of  both  interest  and  information 
on  this  subject,  though  they  did  not  fail  to  inform 
themselves  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  Gospel  plan 
of  salvation,  and  they  cared  but  little  whether  there 
were  a  devil  or  not  so  long  as  they  held  their  beliet 
in  the  divine  Father  and  Son  (for  they  saw  even  at 
that  early  day  that  the  belief  in  the  one  must  stand 
or  fall  with   a  belief   in   the   other),  by  reason  of 
which  belief  they  rested  secure  in  the  possession 
of  a  sure  defense  against  all  evil  influence.     And 
while  these  agnostics  seemed  to  be  endowed  with 
either  a  superfluity  of  the  attributes  usually  alloted 
to  humanity  or  a  deficiency,  (it  is  not  now  certain 
which)  they  were  not  content  to  live  in  quiet  enjoy- 


48  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

ment  of  these  gifts  which  they  claimed  and  prized 
so  highly ;  but  were  continually  harassing  the  public 
mind  which  had  not  this  superfluity  or  deficiency 
and  was  therefore  not  seriously  disturbed. 

The  gift  claimed  by  this  sect  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  some  speculation  among  recent  historians  ; 
but  is  thought  to  be  identical  with  that  referred  to 
by  Agrippa  when  Paul  made  his  celebrated  defense 
before  him.  However  that  may  be  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  agitation  created  and  kept  up  by 
these  few  persons  did  much  for  the  upbuilding  of 
Christianity,  and  securing  for  it  general  acceptance 
because  of  the  interest  it  helped  to  arouse  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  promoting  careful  thought 
and  inquiry  into  the  true  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  which  up  to  the  time  of  which 
we  write  seems  hardly  to  have  been  comprehended 
even  by  all  Christians.  All  this  as  we  now  know 
could  have  but  one  result;  namely,  the  one  before  us. 
I  have  stated  what  I  conceive  the  New  Refor- 
mation will  not  be,  and  that  is  perhaps  easier  than 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  49 

to  say  what  it  will  be ;  and  yet  in  the  light  of  the 
Gospel  which  I  believe,  and  with  the  signs  of  the 
times  before  us  which  Jesus  intimates  we  ought  to 
discern,  it  should  not  be  difficult. 

First  of  all  then  the  Gospel  messengers  who 
shall  inaugurate  this  movement,  (or  rather  continue 
it,  for  I  fancy  it  is  already  begun),  will  be  men  who 
do  not  delight  in  the  study  of  abstract  and  obstruse 
doctrinal  and  scientific  subjects  and  shooting  them 
over  the  heads  of  the  starving  immortals  committed 
to  their  charge ;  neither  will  they  be  men  who,  hav- 
ing made  logical  deductions  from  the  material  which 
the  Gospel  so  richly  supplies,  descend  to  earth  with 
a  thud  and  hasten  to  reassure  their  hearers,  (whose 
slumbers  they  have  rudely  disturbed,)  by  an  indif- 
ference to  the  whole  subject  that  plainly  teaches 
that  the  things  proclaimed  from  the  sacred  desk,  are 
out  of  place  on  the  profane  earth,  and  must  be  taken 
cum  grano  salis  when  applied  to  everyday  ltfe. 

They  will  not  conform  to  the  narrowness  of 
their  own  souls  in  the  selection  and  discussion  of 


50  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

their  subject,  and  they  will  not  have  such  harassing 
care  of  the  finances  of  the  church  as  will  deny  them 
time  or  inclination  to  visit  or  pray  with  one  of  their 
flock.  There  is  great  reason  to  doubt  if  the  woman 
of  Samaria  lived  to-day,  and  would  meet  a  teacher 
from  God  in  an  out-of-the-way  place,  whether  she 
would  be  able  to  supply  him  with  an  audience  of 
sufficient  dimensions  to  warrant  him  in  unfolding 
the  Gospel  truths. 

But  these  men  will  choose  for  their  models 
Jesus  and  John  the  Baptist,  and  they  will  realize 
that  the  undiluted  and  unadulterated  milk  of 
the  Word  is  the  only  pabulum  for  hungry  souls; 
as  they  declare  in  simple  phrase  the  mighty  rev- 
elations from  infinity  to  finite  minds ;  and  they  will 
rise  to  heights  of  eloquence  and  descend  to  depths 
of  feeling  commensurate  with  the  grandeur,  the 
sublimity,  the  divine  character  of  their  theme. 
The  same  multitudes  of  all  classes  will  come  eager- 
ly to  hear  the  truth,  that  gathered  on  the  shores  of 
Galilee ;  but  the  poor  and  lowly — the  weary  and 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  51 


heavy  laden — will  be  there  in  great  numbers ;  there 
also  will  go  the  widow  and  the  fatherless,  and  none 
will  return  comfortless.  There  will  be  represented 
in  these  throngs  the  man  of  wealth  who  will  come 
to  believe  that  his  millions  and  tens  of  millions  of 
gold  and  stocks  and  bonds,  and  houses  and 
lands  are  the  property  of  God ;  and  that  he 
holds  them  as  a  steward  in  a  charge,  subject 
to  any  call  the  owner  may  make  upon  them. 
He  will  own  every  man  a  brother,  with  equal  right 
to  a  comfortable  share  of  the  earth's  increase  with 
himself,  while  he  admits  he  can  only  utilize  for 
himself  an  insignificant  portion  of  his  great  posses- 
sions ;  and  that  a  man's  greatness  consisteth  not  in 
the  abundance  of  things  which  the  world  hath  per- 
mitted him  to  accumulate — despite  its  earnest  efforts 
to  possess  them — but  rather,  in  the  gifts  that  God 
has  supplied  to  him.  Doubtless,  even  now  some 
of  these  vast  aggregations  of  wealth  are  being 
formed  which  in  due  course  of  events  will  come  to 
the  rightful  owner. 


52  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

The  lives  of  these  messengers  will  be  modeled 
after  the  Savior's  ;  that  is,  they  will  exemplify  that  to 
be  a  Christian  is  to  be  like  Christ,  who  "  came  to 
minister." 

Around  these  earnest  men,  consecrated  soul 
and  mind  and  body  to  their  work,  will  gather  a 
host  of  such  men  as  sojourned  at  Jerusalem  after 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  boldly  declared  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  They  will  be  ready  and  eager,  like 
them,  to  do  anything  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  which  is  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
good  of  man  ;  they  will  count  no  sacrifice  of  time  or 
treasure  too  great,  and  will  not  reckon  life  itself  so 
dear  to  them  that  they  will  not  eagerly  place  it  on 
the  altar,  if  thus  they  can  best  advance  the  interests 
of  their  fellow  men  and  thus  promote  the  glory  of 
God.  With  such  a  force  at  work,  what  man  can  num- 
ber the  multitudes  that  will  believe  and  accept  the  ob- 
vious truths  of  the  Gospel  when  preached  to  them  by 
voice  and  hand  so  that  it  is  apparent  that  only  an  un- 
selfish interest  in  their  welfare  is  the  moving  spirit. 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  53 

After  these  labors  shall  have  achieved  marked 
success,  and  when  the  leaven  of  righteousness  shall 
have  pervaded  the  whole  lump  of  humanity,  and 
the  matin  Sabbath  chimes  shall  call  the  worshipful 
in  our  cities  to  service  in  the  vast  sanctuaries,  of  a 
style  of  magnificence  suited  to  the  taste  and  means 
of  the  worshippers,  and  the  great  organs  shall  thun- 
der forth  their  solemnly  glad  greetings  of  praise — 
these  sounds,  then,  as  now,  will  swell  and  roll  into  the 
rafters  and  along  the  aisles  and  over  the  rows  of 
pews,  and  into  the  ears  of  the  merchant,  the  man- 
ufacturer, the  mechanic  and  the  thrifty  laborer ;  and 
they  will  also  reach — as  they  fail  to  now — the  joyful, 
listening  ears  of  the  masses  of  the  people  of  God's 
creation,  then  and  there  assembled.  In  short,  the 
world  which  now  passes  by  on  the  other  side,  on  its 
way  to  a  more  congenial  resort,  will  stop  at  the 
church  portals  and  enter  in,  sure  of  a  place  and  a 
welcome  there. 

To  those  who  may  think  these  pictures  over- 
drawn, I  submit  that  in  our  own  day  the  movement 


54  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

has  begun;  and  a  few — a  very  few — such  Gospel 
messengers  are  in  plain  sight  of  all  the  world.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  name  them,  if  we  could ;  the 
world  knows  them,  and  some  of  their  utterances, 
after  filling  the  ears  and  feeding  the  souls  of  the 
multitudes  who  listen,  go  echoing  round  the  civil- 
ized world  to  those  who  read.  These  have  only 
begun  the  work  and  they  can  only  plant  and  water 
while  the  Spirit  giveth  the  increase.  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  underrate  the  efforts  of  those  whose  field  is 
necessarily  circumscribed,  but  who  are  doing  their 
best.  All  such  have  their  place  in  this  work,  and 
are  worthy  of  high  honor. 

A  potential  factor  in  this  work  already  begun, 
is  that  department  of  literature  which,  while  it  af- 
fords matter  specially  attractive  to  the  young,  sup- 
plies, interwoven  with  this,  valuable  instruction  with 
regard  to  living  a  consistent  Christian  life,  drawn 
directly  from  the  inspired  Word,  and  illustrated  by 
living  examples  of  the  incarnate  Christian  spirit. 
The  effect  of  these  writings  on  the  next  generation 


THE    NEW   REFORMATION.  55 

can  hardly  be  overestimated.  This  of  course  does 
not  include  the  mountains  of  trash  written  by  good 
people,  often  with  the  best  intentions,  oftener  with 
selfish  motives  ;  but  the  wheat  is  easily  separated 
from  the  chaff  if  careful  effort  is  made. 

In  apportioning  the  work  among  the  laborers, 
who  shall  bear  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day  in 
the  initial  work  of  this  reformation,  the  lightest  work 
must  be  given  to  those  who  at  present  sustain  the 
lowest  official  relations  to  each  one  of  the  individual 
church  societies  throughout  the  land.  It  is  unbe- 
coming to  further  discuss  the  cause  for  this,  except 
to  say  that  it  is  their  careful  and  persistent  culture 
of  leaves,  to  the  neglect  of  the  fruit ;  for  whatever 
the  failures  of  the  nonprofessor  to  familiarize  him- 
self with  scriptural  lore,  he  has  thoroughly  learned 
the  text,  "  Therefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  He  is  not  always  or  often  a  just  judge ; 
but  that  does  not  materially  affect  the  result  of  an 
almost  total  loss  of  influence  where  it  could  do  the 
most  good. 


56  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


As  we  ascend  the  scale  of  officialty  from  the 
lowest  rank  until  that  of  bishop  is  reached,  we  are 
apt  in  our  ascent  to  meet  with  the  highest  order  of 
christian  manhood  who  either  ignores  his  creed  or 
boldly  preaches  the  Gospel  from  a  platform  in  front 
of  it. 

A  few  Sabbaths  ago  Bishop  Potter,  at  the  close 
of  such  a  sermon,  to  an  audience  largely  composed 
of  the  wealth  and  aristocracy  of  our  city,  delivered 
an  exhortation  embodying  many  of  the  sentiments 
herein  set  forth ;  but  they  were  necessarily  couched 
in  such  vague  and  general  terms  as  to  make  little 
impression.  In  fine  relief  to  the  gingerly  handling 
of  the  rich  by  ministers,  stands  out  the  magnificent 
arraignment  of  affluent  Christianity  and  its  apol- 
ogists, by  Bishop  Huntingdon,  in  the  October 
Forum.  This  is  a  notable  application  of  the  spirit 
of  Christ's  teaching  to  the  abatement  of  social  evil 
by  this  fearless  servant  of  the  Most  High  God, 
speaking  from  his  place  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  tem- 
ple of  those  children  of  the  kingdom  most  esteemed 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  57 

for  their  wealth  and  exclusiveness.  His  familiarity 
with  and  tender  sympathy  for  the  woes  of  the 
"unprivileged,"  are  preeminently  Christ-like;  such 
an  utterance  found  in  such  a  place  coming  from 
such  a  source,  is  one  of  the  most  significant  of  all 
the  signs  of  the  times.  After  this  what  may  we  not 
hope  for. 


OTHER  AGENCIES. 


HENRY  GEORGE.— BELLAMY.— THE 
TOILERS.— THE  FARMERS. 

Independent  of  these  direct  forces,  and  doubt- 
less affording  indispensable  assistance  to  them,  and 
perhaps  more  powerful  than  they  in  bringing  about 
favorable  conditions  for  the  successful  prosecution 
of  their  labors,  are  certain  other  agencies  which  will 
surely  take  an  important  part  in  this  reformation. 
In  this  country  of  ours  we  have  been  so  long  ac- 
customed to  congratulate  ourselves  on  having  done 
so  much  to  assure  to  man  the  rights  that  the  Creator 
vested  in  him,  that  we  turn  with  a  new  sensation  to 
consider  how  much  remains  to  be  done;  for  as  we 


THE   NEW   REFORMATION.  5§ 

grow  greater  and  richer,  the  wealth  which  was  at 
first  of  small  proportion  and  nearly  equally  divided, 
has  become  great  and  unequally  distributed ;  the 
great  bulk  of  it  being  possessed  by  the  few,  while 
only  a  small  portion  remains  in  the  hands  of  the 
many.  The  result,  as  might  be  expected,  has  en- 
gendered great  discontent  among  the  many,  culmi- 
nating in  various  plans  for  their  protection  against 
the  further  increase,  as  well  as  the  ultimate  reduc- 
tion, and  even  the  final  annihilation  of  this  discrep- 
ancy in  the  condition  of  the  two  classes.  These 
have  been  met  by  counter  plans  in  the  interests  of 
the  few  intended  to  perpetuate  this  discrepancy  and 
even  to  increase  it  indefinitely. 

The  plans  of  the  many,  if  wisely  laid  and  uni- 
versally concurred  in  by  themselves  need  brook  no 
failure;  but  they  have  been  reared  in  the  narrow 
school  of  poverty,  and  seem  slow  to  grasp  a  view  of 
sufficient  breadth  to  enable  them  to  deal  with  the  ex- 
istent situation.  The  discontent  waxes  greater  and 
greater,  and  the  mutterings  grow  louder  and  more 


6o  THE    NEW   REFORMATION. 

frequent  as  the  disparity  continues  to  increase.  The 
evidence  of  unrest  is  now  so  great  as  to  enforce  at- 
tention from  all  classes;  and  in  this  crisis  men  of  broad 
views,  in  and  outside  the  ranks  of  the  malcontents, 
have  devised  various  comprehensive  plans  for  their 
relief.  These  are  necessarily  of  such  a  different 
pattern  from  anything  that  history  supplies,  and 
involve  such  extreme  and  radical  assumption  of 
rights  by  the  many,  which  are  now,  without  dispute, 
held  and  enjoyed  by  the  few,  that  they  are  received 
by  the  great  majority  of  all  classes  with  great  hesi- 
tation and  distrust,  as  a  remedy  for  existing  evils. 

Of  the  schemes  for  social  reform,  which  at  this 
time  are  claiming  most  general  attention  throughout 
the  civilized  world,  that  of  Henry  George  was  the 
first.  His  plan  is  the  abolition  of  all  individual 
ownership  of  land,  the  title  to  revert  to  the  govern- 
ment whence  it  came  originally,  and  the  occupant 
or  user  of  the  land  to  pay  to  the  government  a 
rental,  which  shall  take  the  place  of  all  taxation;  this 
ground   rent  or  tax  to  be  the  property  of  the  gov- 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  6 1 

eminent,  and  therefore  the  property  of  the  people 
collectively,  who  could  divide  it  or  otherwise 
dispose  of  it  for  their  collective  benefit ;  this 
briefly  stated  is  his  single  tax  theory.  He  contrib- 
utes several  volumes  to  reform  literature,  chiefly  in 
calling  attention  to  current  abuses  of  the  money 
power,  involving  the  control  of  political  machinery 
and  otherwise  showing  the  necessity  for  reform. 
He  advocates  national  ownership  of  railroads,  and 
while  he  calls  his  land  project  the  first  great  reform, 
does  not  limit  his  plan  to  this,  but  intimates  that, 
other  correlative  reforms  would  follow  spontane- 
ously. 

The  next  plan  is  that  of  Edward  Bellamy,  al- 
ready referred  to.  There  is  usually  but  one  opinion 
as  to  the  correctness  of  its  underlying  principle, 
namely,  the  universal  brotherhood  and  equality  of 
man.  The  ideal  state,  as  pictured  by  him,  is  so 
much  beyond  comparison  with  our  present  institu- 
tions, that  there  can  be  no  question  of  its  desirabil- 
ity.    The  argument  between  him  and  his  critics  is 


62  THE   NEW   REFORMATION. 


on  the  possibility  of  evolving  such  a  condition  of 
affairs  from  those  now  existing,  and  it  is  an  inspir- 
ing spectacle  to  see  this  typical  American  theorist, 
with  his  clear,  convincing  logic  and  evident  mastery 
of  his  subject,  proceed  to  quietly  annihilate  the 
sophistry  of  the  intellectual  athletes  who  conjure 
up  difficulties  in  the  consummation  of  the  effects  de- 
scribed in  his  Utopia. 

His  scheme  is  well  known  to  be  a  gigantic  co- 
operative trust  commensurate  in  extent  and  identi- 
cal with  the  national  government;  in  fact  he  conceives 
the  management  of  such  a  trust  to  be  the  highest 
function  of  government.  The  operatives  consist  of 
every  citizen,  male  and  female,  between  the  ages  of 
twenty-one  and  forty- five.  These  do  not  participate 
in  the  management,  since  it  is  controlled  by  officers 
elected  from  and  by  that  portion  of  the  people  who 
have  passed  the  age  that  relieves  them  from  partic- 
ipation in  active  duties,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
entirely  removed  from  any  temptation  to  corruption 
in  discharging  the  duties  of  office,     It  comprises 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  (?3 

every  department  of  industrial  and  commercial  in- 
terests, and  every  phase  of  individual,  national  and 
international  affairs.  In  it  money  is  unknown,  and 
the  precious  metals  valueless.  The  model  for  this 
ideal  commonwealth  is  the  system  used  in  controlling 
a  great  army  ;  and  he  argues  that  we  ought  to  go  to 
work  as  we  go  to  war — by  a  system  of  co-operation 
for  a  common  purpose  instead  of  a  lack  of  system 
by  which  each  man  is  striving  to  impoverish  all  his 
neighbors  in  an  effort  to  enrich  himself,  in  which 
if  he  does  not  succeed  it  is  only  for  lack  » >f  ability 
and  not  on  account  of  any  consideration  for  his 
neighbor.  It  is  by  for  the  most  comprehensive, 
simple  and  thoughtful  of  all  the  schemes  for  the 
solution  of  the  social  enigma. 

And  now,  having  briefly  considered  what  has 
been  planned,  let  us  look  at  what  has  been  done. 

Henry  George's  teachings  have  found  disciples 
all  over  the  country,  and  being  first  in  the  field  of 
social  reform  have  made  such  progress  that  they 
held  a  general  convention  in  New  York,  September 


'&4  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

i st,  for  the  purpose  of  national  organization.  As- 
sembled in  Cooper  Union  were  delegates  to  the 
number  of  four  hundred  and  twenty,  representing 
thirty-three  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 
It  is  not  their  purpose  at  this  time  to  establish  a 
single  tax  party,  but  they  seem  to  rely  on  what  can 
be  done  without  such  action.  In  fact,  there  is  a 
lurking  suspicion  in  certain  quarters  that  Henry 
George  has  not  proven  himself  equal,  as  a  practical 
leader  of  men,  to  the  working  out  of  the  theories 
he  presents  with  so  much  ability.  His  ultimatum 
.as  reported  in  the  daily  press  at  that  time  was : 
"  Single  tax  and  free  trade  are  the  cure  for  the  dis- 
satisfaction existing  between  capital  and  labor." 

The  seed  sown  by  Bellamy  took  first  root  in 
Massachusetts  and  California,  and  there  are  now 
five  hundred  clubs  of  various  degrees  of  strength 
in  twenty-seven  states.  The  organs  are  in  Boston 
:and  Los  Angeles;  and  while  a  perusal  of  these 
periodicals  is  apt  to  disclose  a  vast  amount  of  im- 
practical theory  and  numberless  wild  plans  and  sug- 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  65 


gestions  in  direct  contrast  to  the  volume  that  made 
these  publications  possible,  yet  it  also  inspires  a 
feeling  that  a  wide  spread  movement  is  brewing, 
embracing  within  its  scope  many  of  the  elements 
of  national  popularity  only  as  yet  in  swaddling 
clothes,  from  whence,  declare  our  wise  men  and 
statesmen  it  will  never  emerge.  This,  however,  is 
not  a  foregone  conclusion,  but  is  yet  to  be  deter- 
mined. 

With  the  advent  of  its  third  year  the  Boston 
Nationalist  Magazine  takes  on  a  more  practical  as- 
pect, and  being  enlarged  and  otherwise  improved, 
approaches  more  nearly  the  character  of  the  great 
vehicles  for  the  dissemination  of  the  advanced 
thought  of  the  world,  which  have  grown  to  such 
magnificent  proportions  in  our  metropolis. 

A  significant  feature  of  the  contents  of  these 
publications  is  that  reflecting  the  sentiments  of  the 
leading  newspapers  and  the  utterances  of  represen- 
tative churchmen  and  statesmen  of  our  day  who 
cannot  be  charged  with  partisanism  of  any  sort. 


66  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

These  are  not  unqualified  approvals  of  national- 
ism, but  temperate  statements  of  facts  in  regard  to 
existent  social  evils  and  abuses  for  which  the  exist- 
ing political  organizations  afford  no  remedy ;  and 
the  fact  is  we  have  made  a  long  stride  in  the  direc- 
tion of  curing  these  evils  when  we  have  admitted 
their  existence,  and  begun  to  search  earnestly  for 
a  remedy. 

They  have  not  as  yet  perfected  a  national  organ- 
ization or  made  any  concerted  effort,  or  apparent- 
ly any  sort  of  effort  to  obtain  or  assume  political 
power,  and  viewed  as  a  popular  movement,  its  pro- 
gress is  still  insignificant.  Americans  are  so  dis- 
trustful of  wild  theorists,  who,  under  the  guise  of 
reform,  propose  startling,  impractical  and  destruc- 
tive innovations  on  the  established  social  order  that 
they  are  prone  to  stand  aloof  from  all  that  looks 
suspicious. 

Bellamy  himself  is  calmly  confident  of  the  result 
as  witness  the  closing  sentences  of  his  reply  to 
M.  De  Laveleye,  in  the  July  Contemporary  Mag- 


THE   NEW    REFORMATION.  67 


azine,  of  London,  a  periodical  of  world-wide  circu- 
lation :  "  Unless  humanity  be  destined  to  pass 
under  some  at  present  inconceivable  form  of  des- 
potism, there  is  but  one  issue  possible,  The  world 
and  everything  that  is  in  it  will,  ere  long,  be  recog- 
nized as  the  common  property  of  all,  and  be  under- 
taken and  administered  for  the  equal  benefit  of  all. 
Nationalism  is  a  plan  for  establishing  and  carrying 
on  such  an  administration." 

The  daily  papers  are  wont  to  come  to  us  these 
autumnal  mornings,  freighted  each  day  with  the 
complaints  of  some  body  of  the  sovereign  people  who 
have  organized  for  protection  against  what  they 
conceive  to  be  the  oppression  of  capital ;  these  in- 
clude almost  every  variety  of  skilled  and  unskilled 
labor  in  the  cities  and  towns,  and  in  this  broad 
country  of  ours,  we  are  seldom  without  a  strike  of 
more  or  less  magnitude  among  these  citizens  to  se- 
cure some  right  which  they  believe  has  been  ap- 
propriated by  their  employers.  Their  leaders  are 
not  always  the  wisest  among  them,   and   their  up- 


68  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


rising  does  not  always  accomplish  its  object ;  for 
although  the  general  cause  of  discontent  is  the  same, 
the  protests  come  singly  and  instead  of  a  general 
engagement  all  along  the  line,  the  contest  assumes 
the  form  of  a  desultory  skirmish  among  the  outposts, 
while  capital  has  learned  that  only  in  concerted  ac- 
tion is  safety;  so  that  when  employers  organize, 
they  now  do  so  by  combining  the  great  bulk  of 
capital  employed  in  one  branch  of  industry  in  the 
nation,  and  their  alliance  is  not  solely  against  the 
workmen,  but  against  the  whole  world  outside  their 
combination. 

An  organization  apparently  led  by  wiser  coun- 
sels than  these  workmen,  and  the  only  one  repre- 
senting both  capital  and  labor  in  the  same  individual 
is  the  Farmers'  Alliance.  This  powerful  and  pop- 
ular movement  immediately  invaded  the  domain 
of  politics,  and  is  beginning  already  to  inspire 
gloomy  forebodings  among  the  politicians,  as  it 
promises  to  prove  a  factor  in  national  politics  and 
even  threatens  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  in  the 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  69 

coming  House  of  Representatives.  It  has  also 
suggested  a  new  phase  of  politics  in  the  Solid  South 
— with  a  governor  or  two  in  sight  in  the  very  hot- 
beds of  secession — in  which  region  and  the  west  it 
is  strongest,  though  it  is  proposed  to  take  the 
whole  country  in  its  scope.  Even  the  astute  and 
versatile  Chauncey  Depew  thought  it  worth  his  while 
the  other  day,  to  tender  some  valuable  advice  about 
organization  to  the  farmers  of  his  state  ;  but  these 
men  in  their  race  for  wealth  and  power  having 
sown  the  wind,  are  likely  to  reap  the  whirlwind  in 
the  ultimate  dissipation  of  their  power.  The  Alliance 
is  fully  organized  in  twenty-two  states,  and  they 
have  two  million  names  on  their  rolls.  Their  com- 
plaint against  the  general  government  is  that  "its 
financial  policy  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  further  the 
interests  of  the  speculative  class,  at  the  expense  and 
to  the  detriment  of  the  productive  class." 

They  begin  with  a  demand  for  a  law  providing 
a  sub-treasury  in  each  county  in  the  nation  where 
each  farmer  may  deposit  his  total  product  of  cotton, 


7<D  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


wheat,  oats,  corn  and  tobacco,  and  receive  therefor 
a  loan  of  four-fifths  its  market  value  at  a  nominal 
interest  of  one  per  cent,  per  annum. 

Senator  Stanford,  one  of  the  millionaire  princes 
who  occupy  a  seat  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  has 
been  moved  to  offer  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the 
farmers,  empowering  the  government  to  loan  to 
them  a  sum  equal  to  one-half  the  value  of  their 
land,  at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent,  per  annum,  the 
government  holding  a  first  lien  against  the  land  for 
security. 

Now  if  it  were  possible  to  control  all  these  dif- 
ferent organizations  formed  for  a  common  purpose, 
and  with  a  common  interest  into  combined,  careful 
and  discreet  action,  the  difficulty  in  making  a  wise 
adjustment  of  the  existing  causes  of  discontent 
would  be  reduced  to  a  minimum ;  for  after  all  it  is 
only  necessary  for  each  individual  member  to  dis- 
creetly, reverently  and  unselfishly  exercise  the 
priceless  and  potential  privilege  with  which  the 
Creator  has   endowed   each  one  of  them,  and  lo ! 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  71 

the  will  of  God  and  of  the  sovereign  people,  what- 
ever it  may   be,  is  done. 

Without  presuming  to  discuss  the  subject,  we 
will  glance  at  several  features  peculiar  to  our  social 
system,  which  are  themselves  supplying  ample 
arguments  in  favor  of  a  radical  change. 

The  first  is  our  political  machinery.  Nearly 
every  state  supplies  at  least  an  occasional  instance 
in  which  its  executive  and  legislative  departments 
are  dominated  by  some  master  schemer  who  has 
learned  that  it  is  possible  by  a  judicious,  lavish  and 
atrocious  use  of  money  and  patronage,  to  complete- 
ly subvert  the  will  of  the  people  in  the  selection  of 
officials,  and  the  adoption  of  laws,  and  bend  it  to  the 
furtherance  of  schemes  for  the  personal  emolument 
of  himself  and  his  clique  from  the  gubernatorial 
candidate  down  to  the  ubiquitous  ward  heeler. 

Another  flagrant  abuse  of  the  money  power  is 
shown  by  our  railroad  system,  and  if  it  is  not  well 
known,  it  ought  to  be,  that  the  railroads  control 
both  state  and  national  legislation  when  they  choose 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 


so  to  do,  by  a  corrupt  use  of  money.  This  is  not 
so  alarming  in  what  has  been  done  as  in  what  may 
be  done  when  their  power  and  demands  increase. 

The  trusts  also  are  guilty  of  this  charge, 
and  are  serving  well  the  object  of  their  creation  in 
that  they  are  realizing  vast  sums  of  money  for  their 
projectors,  while  the  facility  with  which  they  crush 
out  all  competition  in  the  shape  of  independent 
capital,  proves  that  the  trust  is  the  most  successful 
medium  for  the  prosecution  of  trade.  Another 
feature,  is  the  enormous  disparity  between  the  actual 
cost  of  producing  many  articles  in  great  quantity, 
and  their  cost  to  the  consumer.  The  effect  of  this 
is  disastrous  to  the  poor  man  who  is  apt  to  be  a 
consumer,  while  the  rich  man  is  as  apt  to  be  a  pro- 
ducer. 

Finally,  the  waste  represented  by  the  difference 
between  that  amount  of  the  earth's  product  neces- 
sary to  secure  a  maximum  of  comfort  to  the  indi- 
vidual consumer  and  the  amount  actually  expended 
per  capita  by  the   privileged  classes;  then   look  at 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  73 

the  millions  of  either  unused  or  unproductive  acres 
all  over  our  land  ;  unproductive  only  because  the 
owners  of  this  land  have  not  the  means  (that  is  the 
capital  and  labor)  to  skillfully  cultivate  it — then  at 
the  millions  of  unemployed  and  those  employed  at 
starvation  wages  in  our  cities,  and  we  need  nothing 
further  to  convince  us  that  the  times  are  sadly  out 
of  joint. 


V 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO? 

But  the  remedy !  The  remedy  is  with  us — 
the  people.  The  great  heart  of  this  great  people 
has  shown  wonderful  possibilities  in  the  past  by 
casting  off  a  great  incubus  which  had  securely  fas- 
tened itself  upon  our  social  life ;  that  duty  being- 
disposed  of,  let  us  aspire  to  greater  deeds.  The 
jssue  is  impending,  and  act  we  must  ere  long.  But 
fjrst  let  us  educate  ourselves,  that  we  may  act  wisely 
and  justly.  .  We  need  not  go  to  school  or  college, 
or  yet  to  the  record  of  the  past,  for  all  the  light  that 
supplies  to  us  is  carefully  preserved  in  the  sacred 
writings,  the  practical  portion  of  which  is  the  Gospel. 
This  offers  to  us  the  only  solution  of  all  our  diffi- 
culties ;  in  this  direction  only  do  we  find  comfort  and 
relief  in  searching  for  a  remedy.     Let  us  study  it  in 


THE    NEW    REFORMATION.  75 


the  light  flashed  from  the  source  of  divine  inspiration, 
upon  our  hearts.  In  this  light  let  us  also  study  our 
environment  and  our  neighbors'  rights.  The  pro- 
gress of  the  world  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the 
example  and  teachings  of  Jesus  will  now  be  greater 
than  ever  before,  and  if  we  nobly  do  our  part,  we 
may  at  one  great  effort  outstrip  the  record  of  ages 
in  raising  man  to  that  plane  of  life  chosen  for  htm 
by  his  Creator,  and  lost  to  him  only  by  his  failure 
to  understand,  believe  and  obey  His  word. 

And  now  to  the  patient  reader,  the  writer  aver* 
what  is  doubtless  apparent,  that  he  has  made  no 
attempt  to  assume  erudition  or  even  acquaintance 
with  the  modern  popular  works  on  theology.  He 
assumes  that  life  is  too  short  for  this,  and  that  it  is 
neither  necessary  nor  helpful,  but  the  reverse. 

If  he  has  learned  anything  of  value  it  is  because 
he  has  searched  the  Gospel,  expecting  there  to  find 
the  highest  form  of  wisdom,  and  was  not  disappoint- 
ed. He  writes  from  the  standpoint  of  a  practical 
business  man,  believing  that  in  this  wondrous  age, 


76  THE    NEW    REFORMATION. 

we  can,  and  ought  to,  discern  the  signs  of  the  times, 
in  order  that  we  may  take  our  place  in  the  blood- 
less contest  for  the  right  which  seems  to  be  ap- 
proaching. He  knows  that  the  Scribe  and  the 
Pharisee,  and  the  Doctors  of  the  Law,  as  well  as 
those  who  least  revere  sacred  things,  will  deprecate 
this  association  of  holy  with  secular  affairs;  but  he 
maintains  that  in  their  very  nature  they  are  not  in- 
congruous, but  inseparable.  They  will  also  de- 
plore such  discussion  by  one  not  set  apart  to  reli- 
gious work  and  laying  no  claim  to  holiness ;  but  he 
will  have  attained  the  summit  of  all  ambitious  hopes 
if,  in  the  summing  up,  it  can  be  truthfully  said  of 
him,  "  That  man  did  something  for  the  weal  of 
human  kind." 


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